Heritage sites, Archaeological discoveries, History of Archaeology

Valsgarde

Location

north of Gamla Uppsala

Country

Sweden

Year of Research

16th century

Culture

The place was found and excavated by archaeologists in the 1920s, and before this similar graves had only been found at Vendel, which gave its name to this period of the Scandinavian Iron Age.
The graves are princely, and are almost equal to ones found later in England, at Sutton Hoo in East Anglia.
There are several theories about the identities of those buried, ranging from the Ynglings to influential warriors within the Leidang system, or local strongmen who had enriched themselves through deal due to the area strategic position between the fjord of Malaren and the important region of Tiundaland.
There are so many rich graves that it is suspect that most of them were royalty.
The first ship burial is from the 6th century and the previous graves are from the 11th century.